A Maple Ridge prison guard, gunned down last weekend in Delta, was honoured by his fellow corrections officers and employer earlier this week, and now a public vigil is apparently underway for him tonight.
Bikramdeep Randhawa’s friends, family, and colleagues were expected to gather outside the WalMart on 72nd Avenue and Scott Road in North Delta tonight (Friday, May 7), between 6 and 8 p.m.
The vigil was set to take place in the same Scottsdale Centre parking lot where Randhawa was fatally shot on May 1.
Meanwhile, earlier this week Maple Ridge’s Fraser Regional Correctional Centre flew its flags at half mast to honour him.
On Wednesday, while FRCC awaited approval for the symbolic gesture, it’s been confirmed that some of the staff at the 256th Street prison hosted a “peaceful” gathering outside the facilities to pay tribute and share condolences.
At that time, they asked management about when the flags would be lowered.
Travis Paterson, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, told The News the lowering of the flag is an important symbolic demonstration governed by rigid provincial protocols.
“But we recognize the importance of this gesture in honouring the life of a correctional officer,” he said, clarifying that “the moment BC corrections received approval from the BC government office of protocol, the flag at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre was lowered to half mast as a sign of respect and mourning for our fellow officer.”
READ MORE:Man killed in North Delta shooting identified as BC Corrections officer
READ MORE: Shooting victim worked in Maple Ridge prison
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences remain with his family and all those affected by this tragic loss of life,” Paterson added.
RELATE: Maple Ridge prison guards refused to work in COVID-19 outbreak
Randhawa, 29, was gunned down in broad daylight, in what appears to have been a targeted shooting, at approximately 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, near the Scottsdale Centre. He was a Surrey resident not known to police.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact police at 604-946-4411, or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
-with files from Neil Corbett
Is there more to the story? Email: ronan.p.odoherty@blackpress.ca
